The shortlist for the 2016 Stella Prize was announced on 10 March, with the winner due to be named on next week. As has been the trend (if that word applies to a prize with such a short lifespan to...
Half-Life here on planet earth we watch sad movies, cry, and eat popped corn with salt when we want to feel things cheaply. I wonder what the aliens make of us tucked up on the mothership the surface...
2015 has been an interesting and sometimes controversial year in the world of literature in English. (I am not equipped to comment on the rich and varied non-English-language literary scene, so this...
Geraldine Brooks’ latest novel, an account of the life of King David told by his prophet, Nathan (Natan), takes its title from Leonard Cohen’s beloved and much-covered song, Hallelujah. Although...
The 2015 Man Booker Prize was announced on Tuesday, with the winner being Jamaican author Marlon James for his novel A Brief History of Seven Killings. James is the first Jamaican writer to win the...
(For other Man Booker shortlist reviews, see: A Spool of Blue Thread, The Fishermen, and The Year of the Runaways). Satin Island is Tom McCarthy’s second grab at the Man Booker ring – his book C...
The shortlist for the Man Booker Prize was announced on Tuesday. The six titles that made the cut are: Satin Island (Tom McCarthy) A Spool of Blue Thread (Anne Tyler) The Fishermen (Chigozie Obioma)...
Chigozie Obioma’s The Fishermen is the second of the three debut novels on this year’s Man Booker longlist, alongside The Chimes and Did You Ever Have a Family. In very different ways to The...
New Zealander Anna Smaill’s debut novel is an interesting choice for the Man Booker longlist. It crosses at least one, and I suspect, two, general Booker taboos – it’s genre fiction, and it...
The long-awaited third novel in Marilynne Robinson’s beloved Gilead series, Lila was released last year to an enthusiastic reception by both readers and critics. And there’s no doubt about it –...
